A "Computer Assembled in USA" sticker made its way onto an iMac purchased this weekend

Apple may be assembling certain hardware in the United States instead of China, according to a recent CNN Money report.

The report referred to a reader, Aaron Gong, that purchased a new 21-inch iMac at an Apple Store in San Jose, California last weekend. When he opened the box, the label said "Computer Assembled in USA" rather than China, which is normally the case.

This is a bit of an odd case, though, since the iMac was an in-stock, entry-level model that had no custom specifications at all. In the past, only "made-to-order" iMacs were assembled in the U.S.

This doesn't mean that Apple is moving all of its hardware -- or even just iMac -- manufacturing the U.S. Another 21-inch iMac buyer purchased his product at the Manhattan Apple Store last week and had an "Assembled in China" label on it.

It's not clear what's going on with Apple's assembly locations, but Gong's Saturday iMac purchase has certainly raised a few questions.

Apple's gadgets are mainly manufactured and assembled at its Foxconn plants in China, but these plants have had several issues this year ranging from poor working conditions to employee abuse in the way of excessive overtime, crowded dorms, and low pay.

my apple is running office v14/2011. the rest of my points you fought with a leap in logic like a fox news journalist taking things out of context. i clearly stated doulbed resoltuion on their 15" books. the 17" would have stayed if it had any sales at all. it wasn't selling. cdroms went the way of floppies. your argument is that someone else took it out before them, granted, but their clear move away from cdroms in their pro line is unparalleled. the nexus 10 is a response to the iPad. the res was doubled, dunno why your comparing a 17" notebook to a 15" notebook. wait, i know why, you really had a hard time with my post, cuz i'm right. i agree with you on slow usb3 implementation and i wish they would have built it in sooner. hate to break it to you but firewire was and still is faster than usb, arguably faster than USB3 (firewire 800). G3's had that. i dunno what your point is but your point sucks. if you are denying the clear trend setting and influence apple has over the market then you're just delusional! Cupertino users, as a whole, do not necessarily reflect the platform as a whole. it is made to be simple and many people will confuse simple for inferior. doubling the resolution was a great move and has hit the battery life, thats why apple has made justified efforts to remove swappable battery trays and put everything on its board. expect this from other manufacturors soon enough :) i apologize for no paragraphs, i don't have time for formatting and would rather just say what i gutta say.u missed my point on powerpc. super computers are still made on powerpc, btw, so its not a speed problem per se. i think it was a strategic move so that they could more directly compete with the x86 machines. my point, however, was that RISC is coming back huge with all the low power devices. apple had ARM SoC in the bag since they started developing osx on risc in the first place. haters hated and now everyone is just quietly using RISC chips. i'm not saying they pioneered it cuz i think nokia had ARM chips int heir phones for a while, but i think apple had insight into the demands of effeciency and mobile early on.

sites only use flash for advertising these days. adobe air compiles to native code and its not exactly the cats pajamas when it comes to game coding.

why the hell woudl i want windows 7 to be productive? anyway, you're probably more in touch than most these fools cuz obviously you've actually used a mac. but i think a third party observer would see my point remains. apples sets the standard and the rest of the pack catches up. apples tends to leave certain techs out (NFC) for whatever internal reasons, but it doesn't take away from the fact that they set the pace. i am not a PC hater. like i said i use linux and have worked on HPC installations and have used the ubiquitous windows, but i will not shy away from the fact that OS X is superior. apple did have a huge role in developing the SDK. it was one of the main points of NextSTEP and object oriented programming. don't know your shit don't comment. I recant saying that they invented it only because, as with any invention, there tends to be multiple people on the cusp of innovation at the same time.I'm not happy that i can't upgrade my memory on my own anymore, but i don't think it could have been done any other way. the idea that being able to take your device apart and add stuff to it isn't all that exciting to me IF the right things are included in the first place. unfortunately, apple sets the price. especially with the onboard SSD. i'm curious to see where this takes apple and if people will care that much. i know you do.I'm holding out on the retina devices for a number of reasons but i am years away from buying a PC. windows is weak and linux is a headache. my hope is that apples SSD charge will go down as more units sell. this is a new class of devices and they are charging a heavy premium on the latest and greatest. also, i tend to buy last gen apple stuff cuz it marks down significantly. do you see how all of these things dont' change my point? i hope you do cuz the trend here tends to be: but you can't do this and you can't do that and the question is who said i wanted to run windows 7 and office 2010? who said i want to pay for the retina display (its only an option to date). apple still sets the trend. linus himself said its about time we up the res on the displays and i couldn't agree more. once the price point reaches me, i will be all over it. nice shot, but i win

Once again, learn to use paragraphs, it makes your long and unwieldly post a lot easier to read.

quote: my apple is running office v14/2011

Unfortunately, Office on Windows beats every other office software in the game, including Office:mac 2011.

Epic fail.

quote: with a leap in logic like a fox news journalist taking things out of context

Pot kettle black.

quote: i clearly stated doulbed resoltuion on their 15" books.

LOL what? At the same time Apple killed the 17" Macbook Pro, so the 15" MBPR became its successor. "double the resolution" not.

Apparently you can't read your own Apple news.

quote: cdroms went the way of floppies

Who on earth needs a freaking Ethernet port? Everything is better wireless! WPA2 has better security than good ol' CAT5e, amirite?

Wrong.

quote: dunno why your comparing a 17" notebook to a 15" notebook

You don't get it, do you? Oh yeah, never mind what I said, you're too busy gobbling up and down Tony Swash's knob to listen.

quote: you really had a hard time with my post, cuz i'm right

If you're right, I wouldn't reply in the first place. Abort Retry Fail... oh wait, you use a Mac, only the Fail option is available to you.

quote: but firewire was and still is faster than usb

FireWire is faster than USB 3.0. What a leap in logic like a Fox News journalist taking things out of context.

Firewire at 800 Mbps is faster than USB 3.0 at 4800 Mbps how?

quote: i dunno what your point is but your point sucks

Classic testerguy response.

quote: if you are denying the clear trend setting and influence apple has over the market then you're just delusional

You are delusional if you think Apple is the only innovator in both the computer and mobile spaces.

quote: Cupertino users, as a whole, do not necessarily reflect the platform as a whole.

Or so Tony Swash / testerguy / epollyon says.

quote: it is made to be simple

Awfully simple to 0day and pwn2own in less than an hour. OS X makes an unpatched Windows 95 look good in the security department.

quote: apologize for no paragraphs, i don't have time for formatting and would rather just say what i gutta say.

LOL what? You're just being lazy in sprouting unintelligible gibberish only your own followers at Cupertino can understand.

Apple users make a mockery of the ineptitude of Americans as a whole. That's saying something.

quote: its not a speed problem per se

Yep, a leap in logic like a Fox News journalist taking things out of context. Man, I'm loving this debate. Especially when I can use your own quotes against yours truly!

quote: sites only use flash for advertising these days.

Clear example of your knowledge, or lack thereof, over the topic at hand.

quote: why the hell woudl i want windows 7 to be productive?

Because OS X is incompatible with modern business? Look at the various iWork applications Apple just updated yesterday. Make something on iWork, can't open it in Office on Windows, which is what over 95% of businesses use with office software.

quote: but i think a third party observer would see my point remains

As clear as mud.

quote: apples sets the standard and the rest of the pack catches up.

Too bad the rest of the pack is now setting the standard and Apple is merely playing catch-up... by trying to kill Android with lawsuits.